Gene Simmons Says He Disallowed Eddie Van Halen From Joining KISS

5/1/2012 12:03 PM ET

Gene Simmons says that Eddie Van Halen asked to join KISS, but was turned down. Simmons was a mentor to Van Halen in their band's early days and claims that Eddie asked to join the group after Ace Frehley left the band.

During an appearance on Nikki Sixx's radio show, Gene says Eddie turned up at a KISS rehearsal ready to join the band:

"So I take [Eddie] to lunch across the street and he actually tells me: 'I want to join Kiss. I can't take [David Lee] Roth - he's driving me nuts. We're not getting along. I've got this sound in my head that I want Van Halen to do, and Roth doesn't want to do it'."

"I remember feeling proud of what I said. I said: 'Don't do it. Stay with the band you started. There's no role for you - you're too big. You cast too much of a shadow to be the guitar player in Kiss,'" he added.